Carton slicer

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for selectively destroying improperly coded cartons in a series of cartons moving through a folding and gluing machine, comprising a code reader mounted on the machine to sense coded indicia on cartons and a cutter activated by the code reader when it senses an improper code, and synchronized to intercept and sever an element of the improperly coded carton, thus rendering the carton unusable while permitting the remainder of the severed carton to proceed without disturbing the properly coded cartons as they pass together through the machine, the miscoded carton being severed in a manner to insure that a portion of the severed carton will extend from the stack of completed cartons as the stack leaves the machine to provide for flagging of improperly coded cartons.

United States Patent 91 [111 3,741,081 Lutz June 26, 1973 [54] CARTONSLICER 3,606,014 9/1971 Linn 53/53 X [75] n ento Virgi L. Lutz Spring ae, Ohio 1,972,062 8/1934 Greiner et al 53/220 [73] Assignee:International Paper Company, New Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz York,N.Y. Assistant Examiner-James F. Coan Filed: Jan. 1971 Attorney-Gary A.Walpert [21] Appl. No.: 107,842 [57] ABSTRACT Related Application DamApparatus for selectively destroying improperly coded [63] Continuationof Ser No 793 346 Jan 23 1969 cartons in a series of cartons movingthrough a folding abandoned and gluing machine, comprising a code readermounted on the machine to sense coded indicia on cartons and 52 U.S. Cl.93/36 R 53/53 53/65 a cutter activated by the cede feeder when it senseseh 5 83/371 93/36 A 93/93 improper code, and synchronized to interceptand 5 11 Im. CI Bell) 1/00 sever an element the hhPmPeflY cam", thus[58] Field of Search 93/34 36 A 93 M rendering the unusable whilePermitting the v 93/932. 5 3 /53 54 83mg] mainder of the severed cartonto proceed without disturbing the properly coded cartons as they passto- 56] Reterences Cited gether through the machine, the miscoded cartonbeing severed in a manner to insure that a portion of the sev- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS ered carton will extend from the stack of completed 3 z53/ 131 X cartons as the stack leaves the machine to provide for 3 044508 7/1962 siiim a ri infill/.1 83/371 x flagging of improperly codedcartons 3,399,606 9/1968 Molins 53/53 UX 7 Claims, 16 Drawing FiguresPAIENIEDmzs 197s SIEEIINS INVENTOR. w -z Z.Lu

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ATTO PNEYI 'Mislabeling can possibly cause death or serious injury ifnot detected in time. Carton blanks are manufactured in tremendousquantities with many cartons of the same type and size beingmanufactured in one plant simultaneously. Often the only differencebetween the cartons is the printed matter. To facilitatedifferentiation, a code is included with the printed matter and isusually printed on the carton glue flap. These codes may be, forexample, a series of printed bars. Heretofore, these code bars wereoptically scanned as the cartons traveled at rates sometimes exceeding55,000 per hour on a conveyor in the glue machine. When a miscodedcarton was scanned a visual or audio signal was generated alertingthemachine attendant of the presence of a miscoded carton. The machine wasthen shut down and the attendant had to find the carton. The number ofmiscoded cartons which passed between the signal and the shut down wasnot readily determinable and if more than one passed the scanningstation it could be missed by an'attendant, who having found onemiscoded carton neglected to determineif there were others. Also, sinceremoval of a miscoded carton depended upon the whim of the attendantthere. always existed the possibility that a signal would not beproperly responded to. Still further, the necessity to shut down a highspeed-conveyor has rather obvious economic disadvantages. The instantinvention is a response to the pressing need for a foolproof andefficient means of eliminating miscoded cartons. It was found that apractical system would have to eliminate the miscoded carton withoutdisturbing the progress of the blanks on the conveyor. Since thereexists a certain degree of overlap between successive cartons on theconveyor, a system which merely rejects a miscoded carton would tend todisturb the orientation of the other carton blanks on the conveyor. Itwas found, however, that as the'cartons approach the space between, thegluer feed station and glue application on the gluing machine their glueflaps project over the edge of theconveyor and are separated from theglued flaps of preceeding and succeeding carton blanks. For this reason,it has been the practice to scan the blanks before they reach the gluingstation. This area of the machine also provided a place for the uniquesegregation of miscoded carton blanks contemplated by this invention. Inresponse to the signal generated by the miscoded carton a knife whoseaction is timed to coincide with the speed of the conveyor, isloweredinto the plane of the glue flap and cuts off the flap of theoffending carton. This has a three fold effect. First, and mostimportant, the carton canno longer be glued and therefore will neverbecome a usuable carton. Second, the remainder of the blank passes thegluing station but no glue is deposited thereon since the projectingglue flap has been eliminated, however, since the remainder of the blankstays on the conveyor, none of the other blanks are disturbed. Andthird, during assembly, the mislabeled cartons will remain openpermitting a bar mounted on the machine to cause the offending carton toextend beyond the stack of assembled cartons, thus making itdimensionally distinguishable. Since the miscoded carton is now highlyvisible it can be quickly eliminated automatically or by the machineattendant. If for any reason it is still missed at this point, it stilldoes not constitute a threat because the end user'cannot mistakenly packhis product in the offending carton because it is incapable of holding aproduct.

Having thus generally described the instant invention, it is the objectof the instant invention to provide a method and apparatus forpracticing that method which will substantially eliminate the danger ofthe inclusion of a mislabeled carton in a shipment of properly labeledcartons. It is a further object of the instant invention to provide anapparatus which will render a mislabeled carton unusable as a container.It is another object of the instant invention to provide apparatus whichwill operate in response to a scanner signal and which issynchronized'with the speed of the conveyor to remove the projectingglue flap of a miscoded blank carton travelling with properly codedcarton blanks on a conveyor to prevent its final assembly and to renderthe miscoded carton blank dimensionally distinguishable from theassembled carton blanks.

Other objects will be readily determinable from the foregoingdescription and the subsequent detailed description and claims, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an Prebreaking Gluer Machineas used with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plane view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showingthe delivery end of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows a carton blank with the glue flap severed.

FIG. '4 shows a carton'blank of the type to be operated upon bythisinvention having proper coding.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation'of the apparatus ofFIG. 1 showing the apparatus of the instant invention in place thereon.7

FIG. 6 is a horizontal cross section showing the conveyor-belts of theapparatus of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7, 8, 10 through 15 show an end view of a carart. As used withthis invention, it is generally indicated at 10 comprising a conveyor11, a feed station 12, a

stack 13 of blanks, a code reading station 14, a destruct station 16, anoperations section 18, a delivery station 20, a pair of cooperativeconveyor belts 40 and 44.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate carton blanks of the type operated upon by theinstant invention. Particularly, FIG. 4 illustrates a carton blank 22having the proper coded indicia 30 thereon for the series of blanksbeing processed while FIG. 3 illustrates a carton blank 22' havingimproperly coded indicia 30 thereon. Both blanks 22 and 22' haveidentical physical configurations, however, carton blank 22' has printedmatter applied to it which is different from that applied to theremainder of the series. This is indicated by the different codedindicia 30. The blanks further comprise end flaps 23 and 24, wall panels25, 26, 27 and 28. Blank 22 is further provided with a glue flap 32along side wall 28. In this case, the coded indicia 30 appears on theglue flap. Blank 22 is provided with glue flap 32 having the improperlycoded indicia 30' thereon. FIG. 3 also shows flap 32' as it would appearwhen severed from blank 22'.

FIG. 5 illustrates the code reading station 14 and destruct station 16in greater detail. The conveyor 11 is provided with upper belt 40, upperbackup rollers 42, lower belt 44, and lower backup rollers 46. The beltsare synchronized to run at the same speed and carry the carton blankswith them. Carton blanks 22 are carried in a spaced identically orientedrelationship through the coded reading station 14 by belts 40 and 44which engage wall panels 27 adjacent scored fold line C. The glue flapsof blanks 22 which extend laterally beyond belts 40 and 44 (FIG. 6) passthrough the code reading station 14, supported vertically by platform 50being held down thereagainst by holddown spring 48. As the glue flapspass between platform 50 and holddown spring 48, the coded indicia onthe glue flap is read through an aperture in platform 50 (not shown) byscanning sensor 52. The sensor comprises alight source (not shown),whose light is directed along a light path 54 through an aperturetowards the carton blank and a light receiving Cd cell 58 which readslight reflected from the carton blank. Variations in the reflected lightcaused by the coded indicia cause a signal corresponding to the codedindicia to be generated by the Cd cell.

' mains dormant. Upon sensing an improper series of signals, the codereader generates an error signal which passes via cable 61 to a timedelay relay 62. The time delay relay 62 stores the error signal and isset to delay further transmission of the error signal to the destructstation 16 until the improperly coded blank has reached the destructstation. The delay is, therefore, synchronized with the speed of theconveyor. After an appropriate delay, the signal is transmitted via line63 to the destruct station. The destruct station comprises a pivotallymounted knife 64 and a solenoid 66 which is on support bracket 68 aboveit. The solenoid is connected to the time delay relay by line 63. Whenan error signal is received by the solenoid, its plunger 67 depressesknife 64 placing the knife blade in the line of travel of the cartonblanks. Knife 64 is positioned to sever the glue flap of the improperlycoded carton ,blank. The glue flap is supported adjacent the knife forincreased cutting efficiency by glue flap supporting belt 70.

FIGS. 7 through l6 progressively illustrate the operations carried outupon the carton blanks.

FIG. 7 illustrates a front edge view of the carton blank as received bythe conveyor.

FIG. 8 illustrates the carton blank as it passes the code readingstation. At this point a crease is being applied to fold-line C and glueflap 32 is passing over the sensor.

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of knife 64 which severs the glue flapon improperly coded cartons adjacent fold line A.

In FIG. 10 the creasing of fold line C has been completed.

In FIG. 11 side panels 25 and 26 are shown springing back toward theiroriginal position about fold line C and a crease is being applied tofold line A.

FIG. 12 illustrates the application of a film of glue 71 to glue flap32.

FIGS. 13 through 15 progressively show the completion of the folding andgluing operations carried out on the carton.

FIG. 16 illustrates the effect of severance of the glue flap 32 in thatunlike the illustration of FIG. 15 where side wall 25 is engaged andheld by the glue film 71 on glue flap 32, side wall 28 will spring backtoward its original position due to the severance of a glue flap 32shown in FIG. 9.

As the carton blanks reach the end of the conveyor, they will cometogether in a stack 72 as shown in FIG. 1. Those carton blanks whichhave had their end flaps severed, however, will have side wall 28projecting out from the stack as shown in FIG. 2 to provide a flaggingeffect thus making the unassembled offending cartons highly visible inthe stack of assembled cartons.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for use with high speed conveyor means for transporting aseries of folding carton blanks from a stack of such blanks to a stationfor further processing, each of the blanks having a predeterminedportion essential to the erection of the blank into a useable carton andhaving coding indicia formed on said portion, said apparatus comprisingmeans for generating a signal in response to the coding indicia onsaidportion as it passes a predetermined point adjacent the conveyormeans, means operative in response to the signal generated forselectively destroying the predetermined portion of any carton passingsaid point from which carton a predetermined signal has not beengenerated without altering the position of any carton blank on theconveyor means.

2. Apparatus for use with high speed conveyor means for transporting aseries of folding carton blanks from a stack of such blanks to a stationfor further processing, each of the blanks having a predeterminedportion essential to the erection of the blank into a useable carton andhaving coding indicia formed on said portion, said apparatus comprisingmeans for sensing the coding indicia on each carton, means operativelyconnected to said sensing means and programmed todistinguish apreselected coding indicia on said cartons sensed by said sensing meansand to change state in response to the absence of said preselectedcoding indicia on at least one of said cartons and means operativelyconnected to said programmed means for selectively destroying saidpredetermined portion in response to said change of state withoutaltering the position of any carton blank on the conveyor means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising means for controlling theoperation of said selective destroying means in response to said changeof state to insure the destruction of only those cartons which pass saidsensing means'and cause a change of state in said programming means.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said selective destroying meanscomprises a cutting means for removing the portion of the carton onwhich the indicia is formed.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein'said cutting means is mountedadjacent to said conveyor means, spaced along the direction of movementof said carton blanks on said conveyor from said sensing means and saidpredetermined portion of said carton blanks comprises a glue flaphingedly connected to said blank.

the speed of said conveyor.

' a It s s

1. Apparatus for use with high speed conveyor means for transporting aseries of folding carton blanks from a stack of such blanks to a stationfor further processing, each of the blanks having a predeterminedportion essential to the erection of the blank into a useable carton andhaving coding indicia formed on said portion, said apparatus comprisingmeans for generating a signal in response to the coding indicia on saidportion as it passes a predetermined point adjacent the conveyor means,means operative in response to the signal generated for selectivelydestroying the predetermined portion of any carton passing said pointfrom which carton a predetermined signal has not been generated withoutaltering the position of any carton blank on the conveyor means. 2.Apparatus for use with high speed conveyor means for transporting aseries of folding carton blanks from a stack of such blanks to a stationfor further processing, each of the blanks having a predeterminedportion essential to the erection of the blank into a useable carton andhaving coding indicia formed on said portion, said apparatus comprisingmeans for sensing the coding indicia on each carton, means operativelyconnected to said sensing means and programmed to distinguish apreselected coding indicia on said cartons sensed by said sensing meansand to change state in response to the absence of said preselectedcoding indicia on at least one of said cartons and means operativelyconnected to said programmed means for selectively destroying saidpredetermined portion in response to said change of state withoutaltering the position of any carton blank on the conveyor means.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 further comprising means for controlling theoperation of said selective destroying means in response to said changeof state to insure the destruction of only those cartons which pass saidsensing means and cause a change of state in said programming means. 4.The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said selective destroying meanscomprises a cutting means for removing the portion of the carton onwhich the indicia is formed.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein saidcutting means is mounted adjacent to said conveyor means, spaced alongthe direction of movement of said carton blanks on said conveyor fromsaid sensing means and said predetermined portion of said carton blankscomprises a glue flap hingedly connected to said blank.
 6. Apparatusaccording to claim 5 wherein said controlling means comprises means fordelaying the operation of said cutting means.
 7. The apparatus of claim6 wherein said controlling means comprises a time delay meanssyncronized with the speed of said conveyor.